Raj Thackeray dares EC to conduct local body polls without cleaning up voters list

The MNS chief said there was a game afoot to finish off all regional parties by inflating the voter list

MUMBAI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday dared the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold local self-government elections before sorting out the mess in the electoral rolls. He claimed there were 9.6 million bogus voters on the rolls, and emphasised that the EC had to first set the rolls right even if it took a year.

Mumbai, Oct 19 (ANI): MNS Chief Raj Thackeray addresses party workers on voter list issues ahead of the upcoming BMC elections at NESCO near Ram Mandir, in Mumbai on Sunday. (ANI Photo) (Sandip Mahankal)

Thackeray was speaking to booth-level agents and office-bearers of his party at NESCO Ground, Goregaon, where he held a meeting on Sunday afternoon as part of the pre-election preparations. “The voters list was frozen on July 1 and yet 9.6 million new voters have been registered in the state since the assembly poll results,” he said. “Around 800,00 to 800,500 voters have been added in cities such as Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nashik.

Raj said he had been protesting against the flawed voter lists since 2016-2017. “When the ruling front got 232 seats in the assembly elections, there was silence everywhere,” he said. “Many who won were surprised. Now everyone has realised how the ruling front wins.”

The MNS chief said there was a game afoot to finish off all regional parties by inflating the voter list. “If this is the way elections are to be conducted, why do we hold elections, spend money, campaign and make voters stand in queues?” he demanded. “This is an insult to voters in the state and country. It does not matter whether you vote or not, the match-fixing is done.”

Raj said he did not understand why the ruling parties got upset when the EC was criticised. “Everyone knows how they got power and what kind of politics is played,” he said. “Also, they did the same when they were in the opposition.” Raj then played an old video of PM Narendra Modi, where he expressed lack of faith in the EC and said that it had failed to stop rigging in elections.

“Am I saying anything different from this?” he questioned. “I am speaking the same language and telling the EC that they are not slaves of the ruling party.” Raj said that Shiv Sena MLA Vilas Bhumre publicly said that he had got 20,000 voters from outside but stopped when Eknath Shinde warned him.

Raj declared that the ruling alliance wanted to win every possible election in order to hand over Mumbai to Adani and Ambani. “I am not against development, but if development is to happen at the cost of the Marathi manoos, I won’t stay quiet,” he said. “The Gujarati industrialists want everything that they spot, and our Marathi people are helping them get lands.”

When contacted, state election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare refused to comment.

BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban remarked that Raj Thackeray sounded as if he was losing. “He has not given a single proof of 9.6 million new voters being added,” he said. “The EC is a transparent and independent organisation.”